Adalbert first appears in sources as a son of
Sigifred of Lucca. He was originally a vassal of
King Lothair II and a
legionary of Adelard, Bishop of Reggio. He rose to prominence rapidly by sheltering
Adelaide of Italy in his castle at
Canossa after she fled from the castle of
Garda (951), where
Berengar II of Italy had imprisoned her. After
Otto I wed Adelaide of Italy, Otto I awarded Adalbert with the countships of
Reggio nell'Emilia and
Modena. According to the
Chronicon Novaliciense, Adalbert was gifted the countship because he had helped Adelaide of Italy. With Adelaide of Italy, he negotiated a division of power with the bishop of Reggio whereby the bishop was confirmed as
comes civitatis, count of the city, and Adalbert as
comes comitatus, count of the county, where the county was said to begin three or four miles outside the city walls. He appears with a similar title,
comes comitatus Mantuanensis, in
Mantua in a letter of the abbess of Santa Giulia dated 10 June 977. In 984 Adalbert appears in the records as a
margrave. When
Henry II, Duke of Bavaria, was acclaimed as king that year, he united
Parma, the
County of Piacenza,
Bergamo,
Cremona, and
Brescia to Adalbert's territories. However, Henry's usurpation of the throne was brief. ==Death and legacy ==